Life Without Olivia
by blondchick1985
Summary: Elliot has a broken heart, but is there a light at the end of the tunnel?


Elliot swallowed the last of the vodka in one gulp. He couldn't believe Olivia was dead. It was all his fault. They had all been chasing a perp, a guy who had raped and killed five women, when the perp suddenly turned around and fired his gun. Olivia had fallen down.  
  
"Go, Elliot!" She'd screamed. "I'm hit but I'm okay, don't let this son of a gun get away!"   
  
"I'm not leaving you!" He yelled back. Elliot called for an ambulance and ran over to help her, but it was too late. Olivia was bleeding all over the place and her breathing was ragged. "Don't leave me" he whispered over and over again, but to no avail. By the time the ambulance got there Olivia was dead in his arms.  
  
Now he was alone in his apartment finishing off the last of the vodka. He stared at a picture of the two of them and a tear slid down his face.  
  
"I'll never forget you," he said.  
  
-------------------  
  
Elliot's phone rang and woke him up where he had fallen asleep on the couch. He didn't want to answer it, he just wanted to be alone, but it wouldn't stop. Finally he leaned over and picked the phone up.  
  
"Hello?"  
  
"Elliot it's Kathy." His body tensed. He hadn't spoken to Kathy since she'd walked out and taken the kids with her. "I heard about Olivia. I'm sorry." Her voice was cold, and Elliot knew how much she had always hated his partner.  
  
"No you're not," he said. He was drunk, but he was angry too. "You hated her, you thought we were sleeping together. She's why you took the kids and left me." Kathy was silent.  
  
"Elliot let's not have this argument now." She said.   
  
"You're right, let's not." Elliot hung up the phone and sighed. It rang again immediately, so he unplugged the phone from the wall and fell back asleep.  
  
-------------------- ***one week later***  
  
Elliot Stabler walked back into the SVU precinct and a hush fell over the office. All the secretaries stopped talking and even Munch and Fin were quiet for a moment as he walked towards his desk. He choked up when he saw Olivia's desk right across from his. It still had her photograph framed on it.  
  
"Elliot I told you not to come in yet!" Cragen said, marching out of his office. "I told you at least two weeks off. You need time to get over this."  
  
"I'll never get over this, Captain" Elliot mumbled. "But I couldn't stay at home all by myself any longer. I needed to be doing something."  
  
Just then Elliot looked over Cragen's shoulder into the Captain's office. A young woman was standing inside, waiting patiently. "Who is that?" he asked.   
  
"That," Cragen sighed "is your new partner." The woman walked out of the office on cue. "I hadn't meant for you to meet yet, I thought you needed more time Elliot. But then you showed up here, so..."  
  
Elliot eyed the woman. She looked so young. Her blond hair hung straight down her back reaching almost to her waist, and her skin was lightly tanned as though she'd just spent a week at the beach. She was dressed young too - wearing flared jeans and a white tank top under a purple unbuttoned oxford with the sleeves rolled back. She stuck out her right hand. "I'm Marin. Marin Quinn."  
  
Elliot shook it halfheartedly. "Elliot Stabler." He felt sick to his stomach.   
  
"I'm sorry about Olivia, detective Stabler" Marin offered. Elliot glared at her. He still wasn't ready to talk about it. Cragen cleared his throat.  
  
"Elliot I want you on paperwork until you're feeling a little better."  
  
"Captain, with all due respect I don't think I'll ever feel better. But I'm ready to go back to work, and I'm ready to be back out on the street." He looked Cragen in the eye to show him that he meant business. The Captain sighed.  
  
"Well in that case there is a crime scene that needs to be checked out. You two could take it, it isn't a very tough case so it might be a good time to get to know each other."   
  
"No problem, Captain," Marin replied. She grabbed her jacket and smiled at Elliot. He couldn't help but notice what a beautiful smile she had. It almost made him forget about how much pain he was in. Almost.  
  
Cragen watched the two detectives stroll out the door. He missed Olivia desperately, but he hoped Elliot and Marin would be a good team. 


End file.
